Kana Takagi from The Mainichi:
The man told the Mainichi, "In the workplace, there was always an unwelcoming atmosphere toward marriage and having children. I was very sad."
We don’t live in a world where the employer owns the employee anymore. Black companies like this should not be allowed to operate like this.
From Kyodo:
The number of mental disorder cases recognized as work-induced in fiscal 2023 hit a record high for the fifth consecutive year at 883, up 173 from the previous year, the government said Friday.
Rikka Teramachi from The Mainichi:
A facial robot covered with "living skin" made from human cells has been developed by a team of researchers from the University of Tokyo and other institutions. The device will apparently help elucidate the process of wrinkle formation and reduce animal testing in cosmetics and drug development.
I'm sure this will have no negative consequences down the road.
Julian Ryall from South China Morning Post:
For generations, “nommunication” – or drinking with colleagues after work – has been credited with fostering corporate spirit in Japanese firms, releasing office tensions and building close professional relationships.
Now, a new study suggests that despite the well-documented risks to health, smoking performs a similar function in the Japanese workplace.
Having lived in Japan before and after the 2020 indoor smoking ban, izakayas are much much MUCH more tolerable to be in for long periods of time. Smoking will go out of style as the older generations leave the workplace. So, let's say, by the year 2100?
From The Mainichi:
Currently, the Justice Ministry only allows online birth registration when submitted with a digitally signed birth certificate. Due to the additional complexity of processing documents with digital signatures, no municipalities have accepted digitally signed birth certificates, effectively requiring all birth registration papers to be submitted or mailed to local government offices.
Under the new system, local governments will be able to receive birth certificates in a digital form directly from medical institutions starting as early as fiscal 2026.
While I hope that this system will launch without issue, a rush of fake births registered to this system could be the solution to the population crisis.
From Kyodo:
Japan's top court on Friday recognized a transgender woman as the "father" of her 3-year-old daughter conceived using her frozen sperm and born to her female partner after legally transitioning, in the first such ruling.
One step closer.
Takehiro Higuchi from The Mainichi:
The Japanese health ministry announced that it found no substantial proof of "black rain" that dozens of people reported witnessing in the area around this southwest Japan city shortly after it was hit with an atomic bomb in August 1945.
The national government defines Nagasaki's "hibakusha," or atomic bombing survivors, as those who were in a specified zone within a 12-kilometer radius of the blast, and provides them with relief. Those who were outside the zone, but still within the 12-km radius, are considered "hibaku taikensha" -- people who "experienced the A-bomb," but who are not certified as hibakusha.
Who exactly wins by denying these already elderly people with extra benefits? It seems quite petty to be so strict about who can be hibakusha or not. These people, regardless of them being within 12km of the blast or not, were witnesses to one of the worst atrocities in human civilization. That alone should merit some compensation.